My Mathex Reflections 2009;
You should always start an investigation with a question to keep you focused and help your conclusion- you have made more of a description of what your graph is showing. Also, try to explain why you have selected this subject, and why it is a relevant issue to you. This graph is perfect for showing the correlation between computers and maths, and there is a clear pattern- your large sample size ensures that you can see the slight trend. The next step would be to introduce a 3 rd variable like location, to see if the trend affects students more in Auckland or other regions, or if age is a factor. It is always good too to use more than one graph to reinforce your findings. Your conclusion is brief but accurate and draws on the data shown in the graph- it is an interesting theme/ subject, and though I'm not surprised, it is interesting to see such clear results for the mixed sample you did!
To use data and statistics/ To use mathematical inquiry
Stage 1; Identify the problem and form a question
Clear question to help guide your investigation and to help you round off your learning at the end. Add an explanation to say why you chose this issue and what you'll do with the data you find out.
Stage 2; Plan and hypothesise
Hypothesis is clear, and your plan is good too- identifying the 2 questions you're interested in is a good idea. 50 students is OK- but remember- the more people you include, the more accurate any trends you find are likely to be.
Stage 3; Data collection
Well listed- you asked the right questions!
Stage 4; Analysis of data
Other than listing, not alot of analysis. You could have grouped some of the sport skill responses and calculated the mean average of the reaction times for each group- this would have started to show some trends (if they existed).
Stage 5; Graphing and charting your data
Good choice of graph, well constructed and labelled- I like your trend line- but there seems to be a bit of an imbalance to below the line, compared to above it. Was it added later or has the computer added it?
Stage 6; Interrogating your graphed data
Your trend line is a good example of interrogating data in a graph.
Stage 7; Conclusion, answer and 'So What'
Good detail and interrogation. You referred back to your hypothesis and linked in some of the reasons for what you thought could have caused differences in the data. Well done for taking the time to complete this inquiry online and submit it as part of your wiki/ reflection. Now you've found out this link, what can you do with the information??! This is your 'So What'
You should always start an investigation with a question to keep you focused and help your conclusion- you have made more of a description of what your graph is showing. Also, try to explain why you have selected this subject, and why it is a relevant issue to you. This graph is perfect for showing the correlation between computers and maths, and there is a clear pattern- your large sample size ensures that you can see the slight trend. The next step would be to introduce a 3 rd variable like location, to see if the trend affects students more in Auckland or other regions, or if age is a factor. It is always good too to use more than one graph to reinforce your findings. Your conclusion is brief but accurate and draws on the data shown in the graph- it is an interesting theme/ subject, and though I'm not surprised, it is interesting to see such clear results for the mixed sample you did!